The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-12-29
TABLE MOUNTAIN.

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TABLE MOUNTAIN,
Iin Maxwell Graphically Describes Scene,
of Dcnuty nuu Wonder.
tptcidl cU1ttp0aieaet u t1s La.ei,igenesr.
| !. (coNIIEuED rGoN Yesterday
Tho width Of tho eummit Of Table
mountain vnsies. In some places 1t L
little more than two hundred feet across
In other places 1t Is nearly mile. Each
edge Is o precipiCs generally ono hundred
sometimes three hundred feot down, Thie
10 because along these edges the lava plain
10 being undermined and 10 breaking off,
Huge MASSES break oil every year and fall
into tho ravines bonaath. These rayines,
come on ono eide OF tho mountain and
some on the other, undermine further and
further, and moro and moro OF tho lava
plain breaks oil, and In thu course oil ayeu
they will wear the mountain away.
Acfoes the rocky plain from eide to sldo
may be seen great fisaures and cracks,
running entirely from one edge to the
other. ! suppono they have been made
by earthquakes. There Is something
gloomy and awful in beholding these
mighty chasms, which tell OF the rendng
and bursting of'the mountain. There arc
many Of them. They run parallel with
one another. They arc from Ave 10
twenty ieet In width, aud often nearly q
mile Ia length. fnbbish and loose rocks
have fallen into them until they ore filed
within few feet Of the aurface, and one
may eaaiIy pass over thom. But still they
presen! gloomy appearance. They look
like the entertainments and Notifications
where srmies have been embsttled over
agsinst eoch other. One must indeed
want feelings to appreciate the mysterious
and the snblimo whoao eenses nre not
raised TO intennity at looking upon ouch q
scene. Everything seema to be in ruins,
which heightens tho effect Of the picture.
would rather SEQ Babylon in ruins than
to SEQ it in all it's power and glory.
In certain places, from the summit OF
Table Mountain there run out long prom.
ontor!2s Ike itself, crowned with g crust
Of laws, and flat on ton. These were prob.
ably tributary rivers flowing into the large
one. When the lava food came down, 1t
losced itself some distance up these small
rivers, and there stopped, and they now
remain rs beadlends jutting out on either
aide. In other places it aeems that the
lava overlooked all bounds snd deluged
tho low lands along the river. Detached
te!da OF lava now mark those overflow.
ingH.
A little episode might be introduced
here, which may hardly BIO worth tho
telling, but | will tell il. ] had cat down
on drift OF rocks and was eating an ap-
pie, when WIS apprlred that some one
was near me by shadow passing before
me. ] looked up, and an Indian stood in
front OF me. He stood az motonless So a
Rtatue ard did not speak. From his looks,
supposed him to be Mono, and at
lungth spoke to him in ths dialect OF
that tribe, g few words OF which l picked
up on king's River. He MAIDEN arswer,
but locked ibte1tly at mo, moving not a
muscle. After 9 prolonged suspense,
again attempted 10 open conversation, and
this time spoke il Spanish, which Ian
guage is moro or less underetood by all
the Indiana on this cunnt. Still no stood,
as motionlessas rock, and looked straight
81 me, never 60 much as moving bic eyes.
My curiosity was rising, Tor his behavior
was uncommon and strange. Tho silsnce
was long, and wss ntu6ying what Ian
auage to try next whom hs relieved me
by saying in excellent English: II don't
understand d. thing you say"
There vas nothing particularly sur.
prising go isr, but wss BOON aurpIiaod.
commenced talking with him. and he
seked me where 1 came from. told him
that was at present stopping near the
| Abbey mines. He asked ii I had heard
that en- Indian had been killed there. |
told him yes. (The Indians had got drunk
and killed one Of their number "Woll,"
continued my visitor, II am going down
to quiet msttsru-l am spiritual advisor
Tor tho Indisns-I will bring them back
to the fold Ct tho church." supposed
| That be meant come heather Worship and
that be was head pagan in it; 30 asked
him whore his church WAS, and he said !:
"The Catholic Church, am a Catholic
prjeat-l preach anl I cay mass." To
substantiate his assertion ho commenced
in clear voice and good pronunciation
portions Of the mass, or ritual, in Latin,
l could ha,dly believe my eenses. A
wild, hals-c!ad savage chanting Lstin
His coat was made from an old saddle
blanket, and no was barefooted. and Yaa
as ''blsCS rs the ace OF spades," Sill he
went on with his Latin, and seemed to be-
in supreme delight. I had repeated for
him such passages as l could remember
from Cicero, Juyenal or Virgil, and his
delight roae to ecstacy. But, I soon dix.
covered that, though he could repeat
Latin, be could not translato it. He could
not tell the meaning OF single word, |,
was evident he had learned by rote.
When returned to the settlement ]
made inquiry concerning this Indian, and
WAS told that he wac, indeed, educated
for the priesthood, but the church had
long ago set him aside on the grounds OIL
incorrigiblsneas and impiety. They had
thought that native priest might dc
good work converting the indiana, and
had experimental on this one. But the
Experiment had not worked we'll. He 20,
drunk, Gambled, caroused, broke the Sab
bath, ind wac, in short, very much such {
case as ''rhrougbrand, Olsl'a Prieet," wht
went 10 convert the hesLhens in Iceland
So the church cast him out, but he sill
conssders himeelf The authorized spiritua
head Of the Sierra Nevada Indiana. Tit
first aentence no spoke to me contained NJ
ugly oath, and every sentence afterwards
increased in profanity by geometrica
ratio. ,,'r
After tho interview with Lo, I passed
on south along the mountain. In th.
course Of the afternoon l came to plsc,
where deep canon had undermined th,
mountain, and great masses Of tho rock,
plain croTniag the summit were broker
loose and tottering ready to fall into tn,
depth beneath. There was somethin,
fri2htiul in thepic!ure. The volcanic plaii
ended in pgscipico, sheer down nearl,
three hundred feet. Along parallel will
the edge OF this precipice ran great, yswn
: ing crackn where tho rocks were breaking
away from the mountain, just as rive
bank whcnit ia undermined, cracks ope,
J bciorc it falls. Theee fasures were iron
two to twenty feet wide, and could no
Geo their depth. They we're dark dow
below ninety or hundred feet from tn
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